The German conductor Will Humburg commenced his studies under Horst Stein and Christoph von Dohnányi in his native Hamburg. In the mid-eighties, parallel to engagements with the opera houses of Bremen and Hagen, he received increasing opportunities to guest, and had, within a few years, made a name for himself in innumerable operas and concerts. Some of his initial venues were the Aalto Theatre in Essen, the opera houses of Turin and Lisbon, the Radio Orchestras of Naples and Rome, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the “Ferrara Musica” Festival, the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini in Parma, and the Orchestra della Toscana in Florenz. As director of the “Laboratorio Lirico” festival of contemporary music in Alessandria (Piemont), he conducted a series of world and national premières of composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Siegfried Matthus and Peter Maxwell Davies.

As chief conductor of the Muenster Opera Theatre, and the Muenster Symphony Orchestra, Will Humburg was in a position to create, between 1992 and 2004, a long series of superb, nationally acclaimed productions. In his very first year he was singled out by the German Union of Music Publishers for the best concert series of that season.

Highlights of his work in Muenster include Wagner’s Ring cycle (1999/2001), world premières of Azio Corghi’s Divara - Wasser und Blut (1993) and Sen’ja (2003), as well as critically-acclaimed productions of Le Grand Macabre (Ligeti), Don Carlo, Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersaenger von Nuernberg.

In the year 2000 Will Humburg, taking over from Giuseppe Sinopoli, conducted concert performances of both Siegfried and Goetterdaemmerung at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. Since that time he has been a regular guest at this world theatre. His broad-ranging repertoire of over 80 operas, and his dynamic interpretations, renowned for their stylistic authenticity, have made Will Humburg one of the most sought-after conductors for both concert and opera. Guest venues include: Teatro alla Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Dresden Semperoper, the Stuttgart State Theatre, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Budapest State Theatre, Teatro Sao Carlos, Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Duesseldorf), Teatro Bellini (Catania), the Teatro Lirico (Cagliari), Teatro Massimo (Palermo) the Megaron (Athens) and the Academy of St Cecilia (Rome). In 2002 he toured Japan with the ensemble of the Budapest State Opera, conducting Bizet’s “Carmen”.

Of particular interest is Will Humburg’s reputation as a leading interpreter of contemporary music. In an artistic collaboration spanning two decades, he and the Italian composer Azio Corghi have produced altogether four operas, including Divara and Tat’jana, the latter having its world première at the Teatro alla Scala in 2000. His repertoire also includes the central works of Ligeti, Penderecki, Zimmermann, Nono, Henze, Matthus and Rihm.

Beginning in 1990, Will Humburg has had several successful collaborations with Naxos, including complete recordings of La Bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Il Trovatore. His recording of Verdi’s “Falstaff” was chosen by the magazine Gramophone as Editor’s Choice of the Month.